If you had to choose a single article of clothing to signify class and unabashed luxury, then the fur coat would probably take the cake. As useful as they are beautiful to behold, fur coats are an enduring ode to style and utility that has been preserved from the Inuit, to the Russian fur-traders, and on to the country and city dwellers in the West.
As you might expect, maintaining such a long-term investment as a fur coat requires a bit more care than your run-of-the-mill clothing. Because such coats can easily last half-a-century, you might want to invest in professional care for any tears or other repairs at a place such as Evansfursandleathers.com, a fur retailer that also offers a suite of fur-related services. To give you an idea of what’s necessary to properly take care of your fur coat, the following is a list of how to care for it at home in-between seasons.
Take Your Fur to a Professional Once the Cold Season Is Over
If you’re choosing the store-at-home option, you still need to take your fur coat to a professional furrier as the warmer months roll around. The coat may have taken quite the beating from the weather, and will likely be shedding and have a few broken guard hairs (which protect the underfur hairs). The furrier will ensure that the fur gets the necessary moisture to keep it from decaying. Fur is, after all, an organic material, and needs this kind of care to keep it “alive,” so to speak.
Proper Closet Care
Usually, the professional furrier can store the coat for you for a couple of seasons at a nominal fee, but if you want to take it home, make sure you have a place for it. Your closet needs to be dark and cool, so that the coat isn’t subjected to sunlight which will cause the color to fade.
Additionally, you need to ensure that the space isn’t cluttered with other clothing, for the same reason you should avoid a garment bag. These two things cut down on the fur coat’s need to “breathe.” The air circulation is imperative to keeping it in good form. Of course, you can use a garment bag when moving it from one place to another – but for prolonged storage, this is ill-advised.
Avoid Smells
This is a general statement that points to the tendency of fur to absorb odors. More specifically, you want to avoid placing mothballs in your storage area. Also, wood such as cedar has natural oils that give off odors that will infiltrate the guard hairs and underfur. It would take professional cleaning to get these out.
Cedar is great for regular clothes, because the wood has natural defense mechanisms against bugs due to the smell. However, fur has a much greater ability to absorb these same odors.
Keep It Cool
If your closet cannot maintain a temperature in the 50s (F) during the warmer months, then you’re better off employing a professional. The cold also makes sure moths cannot infest the place, as they cannot sustain themselves at such a low temperature because of their tiny body volume. And, given that mothballs are a no-no for a closet with fur inside, you would have few ways to protect the coat in higher temperature storage.
Fur deserves to be treated like the prized possession it is. With proper care and storage, it will last you a lifetime.